Facebook Groups – There Is An App For That

Facebook is breaking out another feature into a standalone app. The groups feature of the social network now has its own dedicated app to help users stay in touch with their current groups and discover new groups.

The app is a hub for everything related to groups on Facebook. When you launch the app you see a list of groups you belong to with the most frequent one appearing first.

Groups has existed within the main app however it is not something that is prominently featured in the app, certainly not as prominently featured as messenger was. Facebook is hoping that by breaking out the feature into a separate iOS and Android app they will make it easier to help users engage with their groups.

Facebook also says that splitting features like groups and messenger from the app helps to increase the stability and the speed of the main Facebook app. At the moment, unlike messenger, Facebook Groups is optional…for now.

The discovery tab helps you to find new groups that you may find interesting to join. The recommendations come based on what groups your friends are in and what kind of content you like on Facebook. Shirley Sun, product manager at Facebook, says that the app was designed for those actively engaged in multiple groups.

“We intentionally want to make it really really simple,” Sun told Mashable, noting the company rolled out groups to feature phone users for the first time earlier this year as well. “We want it to be very familiar to the current Facebook experience.” I’m betting that while Groups is optional for now, it won’t stay that way for long.

About The Author

Mark is the founder of 60 Second Social media where he provides social media news and digital marketing analysis, he is also a proud father of his bearded dragon, Lola. You can follow him on Twitter here. You can also follow 60 Second Social on Twitter here.